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The stage is set for India to exact revenge on Pakistan for their loss in the 2021 T20 World Cup, but that will be the last thing on skipper Rohit Sharma's mind when they take on their bitter rivals in their opening match of the 2022 T20 World Cup Super 12 stage at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, October 23.
Back in 2021, Pakistan dealt India a major blow as they secured a comfortable 10-wicket win, with Shaheen Afridi bundling up the top order. But a lot has changed since then, and while rain is threatening to play spoilsport, it's unlikely to be a complete washout according to many reports.
In that match, the 3/31 by Shaheen was also successful in bruising the egos of some of contemporary cricket's biggest batting stalwarts. While Rohit, Virat Kohli or KL Rahul would have not so easily forgotten 2021's humiliation in Dubai, the fact remains that India as a team have looked slightly under-cooked in recent times.
Are Pakistan favourites?
This also means that the Men In Blue will not start as favourites in what has been touted as the 'mother of all clashes'. BCCI's statement that India will not travel to Pakistan to play in the Asia Cup and the subsequent PCB's threat of pulling out of the ODI World Cup in India has only made the match more politically charged. But India will not mind going into the match as underdogs with the onus on Pakistan, who will have to live up to the high expectations.
Batting combination still a worry
Heading into this crucial tie, India are yet to settle on a batting combination. In 2019, they didn't have a number four even after two years in the run-up to the meet. And now, one year after the 2021 T20 World Cup, India might have to drop a specialist left-hander Rishabh Pant from the top five in order to accommodate an extra bowler.
How India's top three handle Shaheen in the Powerplay will most likely dictate how the match will pan out. One player who has the potential ability along with the current form to take on Shaheen is batter Suryakumar Yadav, who never changes his game irrespective of conditions or situations.
Conditions favour India
But in wet conditions, Rohit would pray that lady luck would shine on him and he would win the toss and maybe opt to chase when his bowling line-up looks a bit scratchy. While India have three spinners in the line-up, there could be only one playing in the end of the persistent rains and a sharp dip in temperature, making the conditions seamer-friendly.
In that case, an out-of-form Harshal Patel, with decent batting skills might be back in the scheme of things. But with three left-handers – Shan Masood/Fakhar Zaman, Mohammed Nawaz and Khushdil Shah, a bowler who can turn it away is always going to be in the mix, meaning Ravichandran Ashwin can never be completely out of the equation.
The strategy to promote Nawaz as a pinch hitter in Asia Cup Super 4 stumped India but they must have done better homework this time not to get caught off-guard. On Sunday, the only factor that puts Pakistan slightly ahead is Shaheen, who is slowly reaching close to his best.
Squads
India
Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel and Deepak Hooda.
Pakistan
Babar Azam (captain), Mohammed Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Shan Masood, Mohammed Nawaz, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammed Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammed Hasnain.
